SEC Commissioner Wants Elder Fraud at Top of 2015 Agenda

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner Michael S. Piwowar says that he wants investigations into elder fraud to stay one of the agency’s top priorities in 2015. Financial fraud targeting seniors is costing this demographic big time. According to a 2011 study by MetLife and the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Tech senior financial fraud victims sustain around $2.9 billion in losses yearly.

One of the reasons for this is that older Americans tend to make more vulnerable targets for fraudsters. They are easier to deceive with bogus sales pitches and some of them may suffer from debilitating mental or cognitive illnesses that can make it hard for them to know they are being bilked.

Also, scammers like to go after elder investors because many of them have accumulated enough retirement money that they have significant funds that fraudsters can steal. Unfortunately, a senior that is the victim of elder financial fraud may no longer have the time or be at an age when he/she can earn back whatever is lost, which can make his/her retirement years a struggle.

Just recently, an ex-insurance agent was accused of numerous felony counts of grand theft, identify theft, and embezzlement. His alleged victims included over 50 elderly clients.

Also this month, a North Carolina woman recently entered a plea related to elder exploitation accusations involving a man over whom she possessed power of attorney. Jessica Lynn Isley is accused of making personal charges to Harold Rudd’s bank account over a more than two-year period. Isley reportedly agreed to a plea that did not require that she admit guilt. She will pay over $30,000 in restitution.

In Oregon, police recently arrested Angela Chisholm for numerous felonies involving financial transactions that impacted the accounts of a 71-year-old. A few months before that, four people were charged in an NFL-related financial scam that also went after senior citizen victims. The fraudsters allegedly raised about $2.4 million by claiming they had technology that the NFL was going to use.

These are just a few of the many incidents of elder financial fraud that happen every year. In August, the North American Securities Administrators Association announced the establishment of the Committee on Senior Issues and Diminished Capacity, a board-level committee that would deal with challenges faced by senior investors. NASAA noted that in the last six years, 34% of enforcement actions initiated by state regulators involved senior victims. 3,548 actions between ’08 and ’13 involved elderly targets no younger than age 62.

At Shepherd Smith Edwards and Kantas, LTD LLP, our senior financial fraud lawyers represent elderly clients (or their families) that sustained significant financial losses because they were bilked. We are here to help senior investors recoup what was taken from them.